Shifra Levyathan
Can you share with us what first drew you to photography, and specifically, how did the discovery of the digital camera transform your approach to capturing images?
I have been taking pictures since the age of three. My parents came to Israel from New York and brought a camera with them. When l liked something and felt like taking a picture, l pressed the button and that was that.
Years later, when l was married and had kids, l did the same thing with the camera l had - pressed a button and took a photo. I gave the film to be developed, kept the photos l liked and that was that. I never thought of manual or aperture or shutter speed.
When l got my first digital camera, I continued to do the same, but saved the photos in my computer and printed what l liked.
When l found out that l can edit photos (before photoshop) online, I did so and continued happily to photograph.
I never learned photography, just used my eye to photographed what l liked.
You have expressed a deep love for the city’s architecture, people and even nature, Could you describe a particular moment or scene in the city that profoundly moved you or influenced your work?
I remember exactly the day when reflections captured my eye: l was touring the Galilee after a storm, and there was a huge puddle that looked like a small lake, in which l saw the reflection of a tree, clouds and birds and l was speechless. I started noticing reflections everywhere around me: in windows, shops, buildings etc., and was totally fascinated: the reflections were constantly different: depending on the weather, the time to the day, be it Nature or city streets, shop windows or mirrors.
I had an album printed (in Hebrew) named “the third eye is the inner eye: the book of reflections”.
You mention that your photographs are like canvases where you add or subtract elements. Could you walk us through your thought process when you decide to alter a photograph? How do you know when an image is ‘complete’?
In 2010 my life changed and with it my photography: l could not walk so of course l could not walk the streets and takes photographs like l used to do. I went through photos and started to add or distract and create some thing new
The period in 2010 when you could not walk was a turning point for your work. How did this challenge affect your perspective on photography, and what did it teach you about creativity?
It was a bad time. I missed the long walks I took to photograph and capture what l saw.
But when I think about it today, it may have taught me a very important lesson, which helps me now, years later: not to give in to depression, to try to find the bright side of things, to know to look for the light in the dark periods in my life, and learn that many things depend on yourself alone.
In a world where originality is scarce, you hope your art stands out as unique. What aspects of your photography do you believe are most distinctive and set you apart from other urban photographers?
I think that today, with Photoshop, AI and the worldwide open internet, anything original is very short lived. Yet, I continue to do what l like, what works with imagination, hoping that whoever sees it will like what do.
You have a fascination with high high-rise budlings and their reflective surfaces. What do these reflections symbolize for you, and how do they enhance the narratives you wish to capture in your photographs?
When I first came too New York, I was fascinated with the high-rise building. I started seeing the reflections in the windows and was totally taken with the distorted images I saw. It felt like l am looking at a totally different universe. I was so obsessed that that at times l wondered where I was - here or there. Every refoledction is different. I was surprised to find out that many people are not aware of the reflection universe around them.
You've mentioned that your photographs reflect your moods. How do your emotions shape your choice of subjects or scenes, and can you share how a specific mood altered the outcome of a particular photograph?
I definitely can. In February 2014 I was taken to the north of Israel, near the Syrian border, where in1973 we had a war. It was the afternoon of a February rainy day. The bulding was dark the ruins looked frightening. We walked inside and the walls had bullets and bomb holes. A lot of gratify on the walls. My brother fell in the war of liberation, in 1948.
I was thinking of him. l could feel his hand on my shoulder, and his voice whispering in my ear: this is what war does, Shifra. In a war everyone is hurt, families and friends.
It took two years to do the series I did in the end and named “Ghosts of war”.
How has the evolution of photography technology influenced your work in recent years? Are there new tools or techniques that you have incorporated into your workflow?
Photoshop helps a lot to realize what I have in my imagination. The photo itself is the beginning of my work: I add and distract, change and rechange until I am satisfied and feel I accomplished what I had in my mind and imagination. However, it is not quite finished for me, many time l keep changing again the photograph, sometimes years later.
Technology changes all the time and not always easy to follow, however, l take what like and continue to work. Sometimes l am surprised at the results dew to new technology.
You capture the diverse and colorful personalities of city dwellers. What do you aim to reveal about your subjects, and what do you hope viewers take away from these portraits?
Many times, l feel I am led to do what l do. Maybe its my mood at the time, due to bad or good news in my life. I never think about my viewers when I work, l don’t even think how I want the photo to be like when l am working. As l said above, it is my imagination and my mood at the time I work that led me. Many times l don’t like what l worked on and destroy what l have done.
As I said I don’t think about my viewers while l am working it is myself that I want to satisfy with what I do, and I am a very tough customer
Looking forward, are there new themes or projects you are particularly excited to explore? What direction do you see your photography moving in the next few years?
Well, that is a difficult question to answer at my age. I am glad I can work and that my imagination is still creative.
The horrible situation in my country does not make me create anything optimistic right now. I wonder about the world today, about how history repeats itself every several years and I wonder about the future.
I am sure that l am not alone in this, and l am trying to hope for the best, but with very serious doubts.